Glory looked to be out of reach with the Blitzboks 26-15 up with two minutes to play at Twickenham Stadium, but the Scots amazingly scored two tries through Dougie Fife in the final seconds to clinch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Fife scored a last second try just moments after his first had crucially been converted by Scott Wight.

Seabelo Senatla crossed the whitewash for the first South African try, with Cecil Afrika adding the conversion.

The Scots would hit back, however, with Jamie Farndale racing away to dot down before the extras were missed.

A big driving maul saw Wight go over for a second Scottish try before the break and although the kick again went astray, it was enough for a 10-7 lead at the interval.

The lead didn't last long after the restart as Rosko Speckman crossed for South Africa, with Afrika nailing his kick for a further two points.

Afrika then added his own name to the try scoresheet after intercepting a loose Scottish pass, with his side going 21-10 up after he converted his own score.

James Fleming found the corner for another Scotland try to give his side hope, with the conversion again off target.

That brought the score to within six but Speckman added a second try - with the conversion missed - to bring about daylight again.

It looked to be all over but South Africa hadn't counted on the high drama in the closing stages.

The Blitzboks had earlier come through a close semi final against Fiji, who were confirmed as overall World Rugby Sevens Series champions for the second year in a row yesterday.

With a 14 point gap over the South Africans heading into the action in London, the Pacific Islanders knew simply reaching the knock-out phase would be enough for them but they were beaten 26-21 in the last four.

In the quarter-finals, South Africa edged past Argentina 21-19, with the Fijians thrashing France 40-7.

The Scots were too strong for United States in their semi-final which they won 24-17.

In the last eight they disappointed the home crowd by sending hosts England packing, courtesy of a 17-0 victory.

The English had starred on day one yesterday when they won all three of their group matches, including against Fiji and traditional foes Australia.

They could not score a point today though as their fierce rivals went through instead on their way to glory.

The US, the defending champions, came through their quarter-final clash with a surprisingly easy 42-14 win over New Zealand.